Kudos to Shrek Forever After for surprising everyone over the Memorial Day weekend by coming in first place at the box office, ahead of Sex and the City 2 and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Easily one of the most impressive wins of the year so far, but we still have a long ways to go. Can the green ogre pull off another upset this week, or will one of our new releases finally put an end to Shrek Forever After? Let's take a look…
What's the Scoop: Russell Brand reprises his obnoxious rock star role from Forgetting Sarah Marshall in this comedy about a record company assistant (Jonah Hill, not reprising his role from Sarah Marshall) who must track down Brand's Aldous Snow and get him to the Greek Theater in Los Angeles for a special anniversary performance. Road trip hijinks ensue.
Why It Might Win the Weekend: The trailers have been hilarious, it comes from members of "The Apatow Clan," we like Jonah Hill (right?) and, c'mon, it's got Diddy! What more could you want from a summer comedy?
What's the Scoop: Two scientists figure out a way to splice together animal genes with human DNA and wind up creating a brand new species who, well, makes things a little more interesting around the office.
Why It Might Win the Weekend: Because it's a damn good creature feature, that's why. You want to talk about the first little gem of summer – go see Splice.
What's the Scoop: Owen Wilson voices that big goofy-looking dog from the popular comic strip. In the feature film, you can watch him get into all kinds of dog-related mishaps for an hour and a half.
Why It Might Win the Weekend: It's your obligatory kids' movie, which, seeing how well Shrek has been doing, leads one to believe that it definitely has a shot at defeating the more adult fare.
What's the Scoop: Ashton Kutcher plays a former assassin who's living the boring suburban life when he's suddenly called back to duty, which kinda-sorta freaks out his ordinary suburban wife (Katherine Heigl).
Why It Might Win the Weekend: It's the film that has the hottest cast this weekend, which may look appetizing to those seeking out a film that will at least be pretty to look at.
My Prediction: I would love to see Splice win this weekend, but the film might just be a little too weird for some people. I'm going to say Get Him to the Greek, though never count out that Shrek – he's proving to be quite menacing in his old age.
